In life there are often situations when we have to take antibiotics and at the same time be invited to some kind of party. Therefore, the question of whether it is possible to drink alcohol while taking antibiotics is particularly acute in such cases. Below we will provide full information on this matter.
Treatment with antibacterial drugs is prescribed in a number of cases of bacterial and, less often, fungal infections. It is important to remember that the course of antibiotic treatment should never be interrupted. Its duration may be different, depending on the type of disease and its severity (from 3 to 7 days or more). The idea that we must "give up" the festive life and not accept any invitation to any meal scares them a lot. But in practice, all is not so scary.
If you competently approach this problem, from a medical point of view, then you can participate in parties with relatives and undergo antibiotic treatment.
The golden rule: always drink in moderation.
Under certain conditions, described below, you can of course combine alcohol and antibiotics. But when prescribing antibiotics, you need to be careful not to overload your body with excess alcohol. Either way, ethanol gets inside you, and all your defenses will be thrown into the fight against it. And in the case, for example, of a persistent illness, these forces may be the last. Immunity will be further weakened and the resumption will be postponed until a limitless future. And in some cases describedbeloweven death is possible.
Myths about the compatibility of antibiotics and alcohol
Scary stories that it is categorically impossible to combine antibacterial drugs and alcohol most likely began to spread immediately after World War II. At that time, venereal disease clinics were simply overcrowded with soldiers and officers, who endured all the hardships of military life on their shoulders.
Doctors then categorically prohibited their patients from taking alcohol during antibiotic therapy, but not because of the harmful effects on health of the mixture of the latter, but for a very trivial reason: after having had a drink, a soldiercould "do everything possible" and get a new genital infection.
According to another version, the ban arose due to the high labor costs when receiving penicillin, oddly enough, it evaporated from the urine of treated military personnel. Therefore, in order to obtain medically pure medicine, they were prohibited from drinking beer for the duration of the treatment.
Since then, the theory of the dangers of mixing alcohol and antibiotics has become popular among the population, and many still believe that they cannot be combined. But what is the opinion on this question of evidence-based medicine?
Research Facts
It is known that at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, a number of studies were carried out on the effect of ethanol on various types of antibacterial drugs. The experiments were performed on both laboratory animals and human volunteers. The results clearly showed that most types of antibiotics are unaffected by alcohol consumption.
All the antibiotics studied were effective in both the control group and the experimental group, no overall deviation in physicochemical reactions (distribution of the drug throughout the body, mechanisms of absorption and excretion of decay products)was not found.
However, there is a hypothesis that alcohol increases the negative effects of antibacterial drugs on the liver. But in the scientific medical literature, cases describing such situations are quite rare (up to 10 cases per 100, 000), and no particular study has been carried out in this area.
Antibiotics incompatible with alcohol exist
There are certain types of antibacterial drugs that interact with alcohol and produce very unpleasant symptoms - called disulfiram-type reactions in medical practice.
This reaction occurs during the chemical interaction of ethanol and some specific antibiotic molecules, due to which there is a change in the metabolism of ethyl alcohol in the body and the accumulation of acetaldehyde is observed. .
Signs of acetaldehyde poisoning:
- Vomiting, nausea.
- Strong headaches.
- Cramps in the arms and legs.
- Heart rate increased.
- Heavy and intermittent breathing.
- Fever and redness in the chest, face and neck.
In such cases, when taking large doses of alcohol, a fatal outcome is possible!
All of the above symptoms are very difficult for a person, therefore, a disulfiram-like reaction is used in many medical clinics in the treatment of alcoholism (the so-called "coding").